Phonograph



Aug. 29', 1933. mm I ,9 1

PHONOGRAPH Filed Feb. 19. 1929 INVENTOR' Thomas E. Piazze TTORNEYS I is due partially to the fact that the driving motor Patented Aug. 29, 1933 PATEN'E QFFEQ PHONOGRAPH Thomas E. Piazze, Brooklyn, N. 1. assignmto Technidyne Corporation, New York, N. Y., a Corporation of New York Application February 19, 1929. Serial No. 341,079

9 Claims.

This invention relates to phonographs, and more particularly to automatic or self-operating phonographs.

Automatic phonographs comprise not only the usual record turntable and driving motor therefor, but also mechanism of one of a number of types for ejecting the used record into a discard magazine and loading the next record to be played onto the table. For the sake of economy it is desirable to use a single driving motor for rotating the turntable and for operating the record changing mechanism. The record changing operation usually takes considerable, time, and this is slowed up by a speed governor and brake, adjusted to keep the rotational speed of'the table at the proper value for correct reproduction. The primary object of my invention is to speed up the record changing operation, and this I do by releasing the speed regulating brake during the record changing operation.

My invention relates more specifically to an automatic phonograph such as is described in applications of Lester L. Jones, Serial Numbers 341,076, 341,077, and 341,078, filed concurrently herewith. In his phonograph the. record tumtable and driving motor are carried on a frame which is tiltably supported by trunnionsmounted in bearings on a stationary chassis, the frame and table being tilted downwardly for the record changing operation. The frame also carries tilting mechanism and a' speed regulating governor and brake. A specific object of my invention is to provide means for practicing the method of my invention in connection with such a phonograph, and a further object of my invention is to arrange for a manually adjustable speed regulator being located on'the stationary chassis, for

constant accessibility, rather than on the movable frame. To fulfill the foregoing objects I mount a manually adjustable speed regulator on the stationary chassis, and I interconnect the governor on the tiltable frame with the regulator by a member which contacts with the regulator when the table is in playing position, but which is separated and released therefrom when the table is tilted. More specifically, I employ an axially adjustable cone fixed to the chassis, and a brake lever mounted on the frame which is pressed against the cone when the frame is in playing position, but which is moved away from the cone when the frame is tilted for the record changing operation.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear,

my invention consists in the automatic phonograph elements and their relation one to the other as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in whichi Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the frame in playing position;

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation showing the frame in tilted position;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement in playing position;' and Fig. 4 is a detail view, taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is a stationary chassis 2, and a tiltable frame 4, supported by trunnions 6 in bearings 8 mounted on pedestals 10. The frame 4 carries a driving motor 12, which is geared to the turntable shaft 14 by a worm 16 and worm wheel 18. The. frame 4 also carries tilting mechanism consisting of a crank and single revolution clutch mechanism indicated generally at 20, the crank pin being anchored through a connecting rod 22 to a wrist pin 24 fixed on the chassis 2. The tilting mechanism is geared to the turntable shaft 14 by a worm 26 and a worm wheel 28.

The frame includes a bifurcated support 30 for a rod 32, to the lower end of which is fixed a brake lever 34 carrying a brake'block 36, which wipes on the inner face of a brake disk 38 fixed to the motor shaft. To the upper end of the rod 32 is fixed a lever 40, and this bears against a cone 42, which is threaded at 44 to the chassis 2, and axially adjustable therein by means of a knurled head 46. There also is provided on the chassis 2 a V-shaped guide 43, which insures that the lever 40 is brought into contact with the cone 42 and also that the contact is at the lowermost exposed diameter of the cone, a condition which would anyway exist because of the taper of the cone.

Adverting now to Fig. 2 it will be seen, when .the frame 4 is tilted about the trunnions 6 by rotation of the crank 20 about the crank pin anchored by the connected rod 22, that the lever 40 leaves the cone 42, thereby releasing the brake block 36 from contact with the brake disk 38, because of the influence of the torsional spring 33 upon the rod 32.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement when in the position shown in Fig. 1, and shows the lever 40 in contact with the conical speed regulator 42, thus positioning the brake block 36 at the appropriate position to obtain the proper reproducing speed. This speed is maintained-by changes in the axial positioning of the brake disk 36 in response to the pull of the centrifugal g'overnor weights 50.

Referring to Fig. 4, which is a view on the line 44 in Fig. 2, it will be seen that the lever 40, having been released from the speed regulating cone 42, has swung counter-clockwise, carrying the brake arm 34 with the brake block 36 away from the inner face of the brake disk 38. In consequence the governor load is completely removed from the driving motor, the power of which may then be fully applied to the tilting and record changing operations, reducing the time taken by this operation to a minimum.

It will be understood that the foregoing described modification is merely a specific form of my invention, as applied to a specific type of automatic phonograph, and that the invention may equally Well be applied to any type'of automatic phonograph in which a single driving motor is used both for the turntable and for the record changing mechanism, it merely being necessary to provide means operating in proper time sequence to release the governor brake when the record changing operation begins. The term record changing operation is intended to broadly cover the loading operation alone, or the record rejecting operation alone, as well as the more customary record changing operation, which includes both.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic phonograph comprising a record turntable,self-loading mechanism, a single driving motor for constantly driving the table and intermittently driving the loading mechanism, speed control mechanism including a governor and brake for regulating the rotational speed of the turntable, and means to automatically make the speed control mechanism inoperative during the record changing operation in order to relieve the motor load and speed up the operation of changing the records.

2. An automatic phonograph comprising a record turntable, tilting mechanism therefor, a single driving motor for the table and the tilting mechanism, a speed governor and brake for regulating the playing speedof the phonograph, and means for releasing the brake during the tilting operation. a

3. An automatic phonograph comprising a stationary chassis, a record turntable, tilting mechanism therefor, a single driving motor for the table and the tilting mechanism, a speed governor and brake for controlling the playing speed of the phonograph, a manually adjustable speed regulator fixed to the chassis, and means interconnecting the governor and manual speed regulator when the table is in playing position, but separated from the speed regulator when the table is tilted in order to release the governor brake during the tilting operation.

mounted on the motor frame, a single driving motor for both the table and the tilting mechanism carried by the frame, a speed governor and brake mounted on the frame for controlling the playing speed of the phonograph, a manuallyadjustable speed regulator in, the form of an ad justable fixed member mounted on the chassis, and movable means on the governor mechanism carried by the frame the position of which is determined by bearing against the said member when the frame is in playing position but which is separated from the said member when the frame is tilted in order to release the governor brake during the tilting operation.

5. An automatic phonograph comprising a stationary chassis, a tiltable motor frame, a record turntable carried thereby, tilting mechanism mounted on the motor frame, a single driving motor for both the table and the tilting mechanism carried by the frame, a speed governor and brake mounted on the frame for controlling the playing speed of the phonograph, a manually adjustable speed regulator in the form of an axially movable cone fixed on the chassis, means on the governor mechanism carried by the frame for bearing against the cone when the frame is in playing position but separated from the cone when the frame is tilted in order to release the governor brake during the tilting operation, and means on the chassis for guiding the aforesaid means into contact with the cone when the frame is restored to playing position.

6. An automatic phonograph comprising a stationary chassis, a record turntable, tilting mech-- anism therefor, a single driving motor for the table and the tilting mechanism, a speed governor and brake for controlling the playing speed of the phonograph, an adjustable speed regulator, means interconnecting the governor and speed regulator, and means making the interconnecting means inoperative during the tilting operation in order to release the governor brake. a

7. An automatic phonograph comprising a starate the interconnecting means from the speed regulator when the table is tilted in order to release the governor brake during the tilting operation.

8. An automatic phonograph comprising a record turntable, tilting, mechanism therefor, a single driving motor for the table and the tilting mechanism, centrifugal governor and brake means for governing the speed of the motor to regulate the playing speed of the turntable, and means for relieving said governing means during tilting of the turntable.

9; An automatic phonograph comprising a stationary chassis, a record turntable, tilting mechanism therefor, a single driving motor for the table and the tilting mechanism, means for governing the speed of the motor to regulate the playing speed of the turntable, a manually adjustable speed regulator fixed to the chassis, and means for relieving said governing means from the regulator during tilting of the turntable.

THOMAS E. PIAZZE. 

